Potty training advice?

I spent all morning yesterday running around after a 20 month old who would rip off her diaper and pee on the floor. Now, in my defense, she peed on the floor three times in an hour. Even if I was potty training, I wouldn’t have put her on the potty every fifteen minutes. Um…would I? Please say no. And when I say rip off her diaper, I mean pull ups, she would take her pull ups off. We switched to those because we thought they might be easier to keep on. Ha!

We have this potty chair for her in the bathroom. She likes to go in and sit on it. And get off. And sit. And get up. And sit. She doesn’t like to just sit on it. I despair that she’ll actually ever tinkle in this potty. Some of you might recall from a previous post that she HAS tinkled on the floor next to the potty.

And I’m happy to report that while she was at my MIL’s on Tuesday, she had a loose bowel movement during naptime, took off her diaper and spread it about. Why does this make me happy? Duh. Because it wasn’t at my house and I didn’t have to clean it up. I hear that most every child has one incident like this and I’m nearly gleeful that it wasn’t at a time when I had to deal with it.

So back to potty. Is it time to start potty training? I’ll be honest. I know potty training is hard work. I’m nearly certain I’m too lazy to successfully potty train a child. It sounds like a lot of work. But *heavy sigh* I’ll perservere and do the work. See? I’m just that kind of nice mommy. No really, do I need to start? How do I start? Can’t I just let her magically potty train herself eventually? That does happen, right?

16 Comments

First off, my son is autistic–which means essentially he won’t do anything he doesn’t want to. And I mean anything.

So, I started potty training when he was 2, maybe a little earlier. Since I didn’t want to confuse him by changing the rules later, I got one of those adjuster seats for kids. Just a smaller ring you put on the toilet so they don’t fall in the hole. (Also, I had no interest in cleaning the bowl of the potty chair, lol) So, that might help her.

Second–and this was the cincher: When they wake up in the morning, race them over to the toilet and put them on it. They won’t always make it, but it programs them to go there first thing in the morning and you get some success getting them to pee there whether they like it or not. (Though, I have to admit, my son has the intestinal fortitude of Hoover Dam. I saw that kid hold it for 45 minutes, then put his diaper on and before the tabs were sealed, sigh in relief as the damn thing flooded and filled. Come to think of it, I’m STILL mad about that.)

There is also the time honored tradition of letting them go commando. Though, it doesn’t sound as if yours is terribly put off by poo, lol.

Girls do tend to train faster, from the experience of my nieces. Success and rewards help, esp if child has a greedy strain at all. Use a reward of Lollipops or whatever, but make sure ONLY to give it when they fully have success.

Then again, lol, I had a boy peeing in the potty for two years before he decided to give in and be trained. In the end, if they’re not ready, it won’t happen. So, since she’s still so young, just try for the morning. Look for “the Look” on her face and get her there when you can. At this point, you’re setting a precedent, not issuing it into law. She’l come around. 🙂

I used to be an assistant in a daycare and the technique we used was the show me method. We had a doll that peed when you gave her water. We’d put the doll on the potty and let her pee to show the kid what they needed to do. When the doll peed we’d make a big celebration about it and then tell the kid, your turn. It worked 90% of the time. Potty training for # 2 is a little trickier though.

I have a 23 month old, we’re starting the potty fascination thing. But she’s my third and so I’m sort of blase about it. I know the road ahead is filled with accidents and defiant poop episodes (shuddering sigh).

She’ll do it when she’s ready. That’s my best advice. You can’t force it. What I do is set a timer and have her sit on the potty once an hour until she got used to the idea of sitting on it bare assed. If you go when she’s in there, she can get the idea of what people do on the potty. This leads to the next step, awareness that pee actually goes in there. The middle kid loved to sit on it but was horrified by the idea of peeing in it.

Anyway, eventually she’ll get it and you’ll be able to say goodbye to diapers. Yay! Just be consistent and try not to force it.

My son had no interest in potty training. We tried at 2 and again at 2 1/2 it took 6 months of fighting and one day of training. He only does things when he’s good and ready. I think most kids fall into this category.

I tried putting him on the potty every hour, didn’t work, he’d sit there for about 10 seconds and would be climbing off. I tried bribing, I tried a seperate potty chair.

Finally, keeping him bottomless worked. He knew if he went on the floor Mommy would be mad and eventually he gave up and went on the potty, and from that day forward he’s never had an accident.

I have a girlfriend who recommends buying fancy underpants for girls something special that they wont want to get dirty. Worked for all 3 of her girls.

Magical potty training all by themselves doesn’t happen. (ALthough I keep hearing runors that it does.)

Daughter I kept, well, SHE, kept commando from about 18 months on. SHe was incorrigable. Took all her clothes off all the time. During that period, I would put her on the potty when she woke up, after lunch, and she would pee in the toilet. SHe coudl never her the concpet of taking off her clothes to pee though. If she was dressed, then she needed a daiper/pull-up.

THen she would ask for a diaper to poop in. Couldn’t get her to use the toilet at all for poops.

She went to preschool when she was three. Saw all the other kids trouping to the bathroom at appointed times all day. Potty trained in three days.

WIth son and younger daughter, I put gummy worms in individual ziplock bags near the toilet. Pee in the toilet, eat candy. Poop in the toilet, eat candy and get a sticker. Worked really wel fo rdaughter. Son, not so much.

Be patient. There are very few high school students wetting their beds, and there are almost no college students wearing diapers. She’ll get it. Just remind her from time to time.

Trish
on July 13, 2006 at 2:38 PM

Potty training is the hardest to start but a piece of cake when you get a pattern.

By the way you have explained it, she seems like she is ready. Elias was 20 months when I started with him. I put the potty in my living room and let him run around without a diaper. Of course he peed on my floor, but I would catch him and put him on the potty. And he would just get it. We hade a potty song and dance we did when he went pee (I can teach you when I see you next) and he loved it. I made such an ass out of myself and big fuss over him it worked.

But you have to be consitent. If your not ready to do it, then dont. Because it does consume a lot of time. I remember going to the grocery store and taking him 4 or 5 times.

Can I just say, this is cracking me up? Seriously, I’m howling! Ah, those were the days. Now, I’m trying to train my girls to like, you know, GET jobs, instead of DOing jobs. LOL!

M&Ms and fancy panties are the keys. Every single time Brianna pees or poops in her little potty, give her an M&M and make a big, hairy deal about how amazing she is. Give her the panties and see if she likes them. If so, tell her she can wear them, but only if she can be a big girl and not get them dirty. If she has an accident – and she will – remind her of the potty and assure her she’ll do better next time. (Then go wash them out and mumble curses in your head…)

That said – she’s not gonna do it until she wants to do it. Children are incredibly brilliant.

We’ve three kids, all potty trained now (HAHA). I didn’t start training mine earlier than 2 1/2. Son #1- about two months. Daughter, about a month or less. Son #2- three months. No struggles over BMs. Tons of rewards & treats for ‘performing’. We did buy the peeing doll. We floated cheerios in the bowl to teach the boys to aim. Once we decided it was time to train we ditched diapers & never used pull ups. There was a huge ceremony about being ‘bigger’ & no more diapers. I bought waterproof pads for their beds & they usually achieved nighttime dryness at about he same time as everything else.

I have a 23 month old son and have made no attempts to start potty training (though he is getting a potty for his birthday). I have a friend with a 27th month old daughter who is practically potty trained, and was so trained within a week.

I think you can’t rush a toddler, no matter what schedule a book or your mother-in-law gives you. Good luck!!

When my oldest was small I tried and tried and nothing worked. I got frustrated – he got frustrated. Then I read something about waiting until they were ready. I did that and I thing he was trained in about 2 or 3 days. So like others have said – just let Brianna decide when it’s time.

I only potty-trained one child, a boy, and it was by pure luck that no effort was involved. From the day I brought him home until he was old enough to make that “ugh…it’s that time again” face, I fed him, discovered the duration between the last sip and the first fart or squirm, and would just sit him in his ‘seat’. Even when he was unable to sit by himself – I held him on it until he was done. I was also a stay-at home mom until he was 2 yrs old, though.

He also had 2 things he got when he sat there, starting when he was about 6 months old, I think. He got to wear his favorite hat or the Mickey Mouse ears, and he got to go through a small plastic book of his choice – LOL. No, I didn’t read to him when he was in that position – nothing but pictures, but the books were rather short/brief.

Nothing like getting a ridiculous answer to a serious question – sorry. And I have NO clue why I just shared that with you.

Peachfuzy
on July 14, 2006 at 1:34 AM

my mother potty trained my nephew in 2 days. Basically, she took off his diaper and put him in big boy underware. She told him what the toilet was for and everytime he had an accident she took him over to the toilet and calmly explained it again.
In a day and a half he got it and we all clapped and cheered when he went by himself.
When my sister picked him up on monday he refused to put on a diaper telling her that he was a ” big boy and big boys don’t wear diapers.”
My sister couldn’t believe it. Other than a the occasional accident he was totally potty trained.

Jumping in late to this discussion, because I’ve been struggling with the same thing…

My son did NOT want to be potty trained, to the point where he’s been sleeping dry, waking up dry, then filling his pull-up as soon as I took him off the potty chair. Pull-ups didn’t work, bribes didn’t work, the new musical flushing potty didn’t work, nothing seemed to work. I’d potty trained two older kids, but this one? No way.

So my DH and I just got back from a little no-kids vacation, and my MIL handed him over with a big grin — she’d decided to spend the three days she had the kids potty-training him. And he’s almost completely trained now. Big-boy underwear and everything, although we’re still having accidents at least once a day. But it’s way better than it had been.

The only drawback I can see is that he now announces, after every bathroom visit, “I got water out of my peanuts!” Loudly. Usually when we’re around complete strangers.

Sigh. I guess I can handle the cringe factor as long as he’s now able to go to preschool in the fall. 🙂

Potty training children unfortunately does not happen overnight. However there are some good products out there that can help you to make it a little bit easier. Using a potty chair was a great help to get my kids used to the potty. Potty training can be well worth the money too, since you can save a lot on diapers.